Another week down!! Monday and Tuesday were pretty much the same as usual. Except for the fact that there was no school on Monday! So you know that me, Syd, and Lauren went to the mall to hit up the Labor Day sales. Don't worry, we were very successful. Tuesday was back to the grind for everyone. Then on Wednesday, we went to school like normal and in the evening we had a special guest arrive! Bekah Jo is back in town and staying at 1320 for ten days. EJ and I went to the airport to pick her up and then we picked up the roomies and co. and went to Taco Bell. On Thursday we all went to class while Bekah went to a million and one Institute classes. That night we went to Outback to have a true Aussie experience. According to Bekah though, nothing there is very Australian. On Friday night, Bekah decided she wanted to go stargazing so we drove out to a random mountain and attempted to stargaze. Unfortunately it was pretty cloudy so there weren't many stars, but the city lights were beautiful. Then we went to 7-11 and got Slurpees.
Saturday!!! So for those of you who didn't already know this, the first baby elephant born in Arizona arrived on August 20th at 10:55 pm. She is the cutest thing in the world and I have been dying to see her. I honestly cried a few times when she was brought up and when we drove past the zoo. The zoo is roughly six minutes away from our house and yet I had never been there. So Bekah, Syd, and I woke up early and ventured off to the Reid Park Zoo. It. Was. Amazing.
Hello Mr. Giraffe.
They had so much elephant paraphernalia I was in heaven.
Seriously in heaven.
Whilst at the zoo, we encountered some turtles who were "fighting" with each other. I'll spare you the gory details, but let's just say that turtle moans are ridiculous. They are so loud and low and grotesque.
Here's the large turtle after an unsuccessful attempt at mating.
Here is a nice little llama.
#models
We also fed giraffes and it was a beautiful and glorious moment.
After the zoo we had some Smashburger and went home to relax for a little bit. Then we headed out into the rain to drive up Mt. Lemmon. This is my favorite activity of the year and this one did not disappoint at all!
The beezies plus Bekah.
Ryan found a cutie little frog thing.
Overcast selfies are everyone's fave.
As are group rock pictures.
It was so much fun and we danced the night away in the mountains. Good food, good company, good music, good atmosphere. Overall a great, great, great time.
Sunday: We went to church like normal. During sacrament meeting I took a phone call from my dad. I've been debating how to address this on my blog, but I just don't really know quite how. I didn't want to sound dramatic or cold or whiney or anything. I debated not putting this on the blog at all but I felt as though it deserved to go there. On Sunday morning our sweet Great Dane was put down. She has been getting old for a few years, but still doing fine. Over the past few days however, her organs started shutting down and my parents could tell that it was just her time to go, so they brought her in to the vet. It's hard to talk about this and hard to explain it to others outside of my family. In my family, pets are just like any other family member, if not even more important.
We got Jozi from a breeder in Johannesburg (her namesake city) while living abroad. She provided us with much joy and laughter in South Africa. She scared our little maid Joanna, she stole the Thanksgiving turkey at just 10 months old, and she hid in the bathtub from our 9 pound cat. She travelled with us across the globe to San Ramon where her and Ozzie played outside, roughhoused, and created a spectacle wherever we went. With her passing, not only did Dewey lose a friend and we lost a family member, but all of those memories that our family shared have come to an end. She was a part of our lives during the most dynamic, troubling, joyous, and formative years. She will be missed and her memories will be cherished forever.
Thank you for all of the love, slobber, and laughs, Jozi.
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